drgitlin

I have not bought into any hype, but understand the engineering that goes into each timepiece Panerai creates. First, Panerai has a extremely rich history which goes back to the late 1800s. Later Gio Panerai became a supplier to the Royal Italian Navy to construct brilliant precision instruments. The Luminor series which made the company famous owes credit to the Italian Special Forces Commandos. Panerai amalgams all these credentials and engineering into each and every product. I'll stick w/ my stance on Panerai.

Except all the Panerais for sale today are made in Switzerland with ETA movements and have been ever since Richemont (aka Swatch) bought them a few years ago. All they share with the original Italian Navy watches is the name.

As for B&R, for the money they charge, I'd expect them to be better made - they don't even bother to align the fucking screws on the case - there's only 4 of them and they're huge, so there's no excuse for having them all pointing in different directions.

also,whats the best place for vintage watches(tag,rolex,pam,omega),i dont trust ebay and prefer the look of the vintage styles,would probs go up to $1000,maybe more for a special piece.any ideas?

Wanna Buy A Watch on Melrose in LA. www.wannabuyawatch.com

Excellent service, excellent prices.

just to throw in my 2 cents. i bought a visvim e-cat messenger at the FIL store in HK. the material of the ballistic nylon and elk leather was great quality. but after 2 weeks, the threading on one of the straps started coming undone. it wasn't like i loaded the bag with bricks or anything either. i just used it to carry normal stuff like an umbrella, ipod, and some guidebooks as i went around china and south korea. the guys at the FIL store were willing to switch it out but they had to have their buyer inspect the bag first and he wasn't coming until a week after i left HK. so i just had a seamstress repair the threading. it's good as new, but for all the talk of quality with visvim bags and paying about $350 USD, i expected more... not to have it fall apart after 2 weeks. you might be better off getting something like a tumi bag for work since its a better value and they have a lifetime guarantee.

Thanks - I decided to go with a TAD gear EDC pack instead.

Glad to see more people coming round to the 526s - such a great cut. The XXs are the 100% texan cotton, right?

m1sterko - no, the cinch doesn't dig in at all, ever.

for iPhone people

Get it here

Brightkite is where it's at these days.

Bought this a couple of months ago. It looks a lot bigger than it is thanks to the macro (watch body is only 37.5mm). It's an early 1970s model, but I don't know the exact year. Uses a Valjoux 7734.

OK, who knows anything about the USA model? I have a pair of 526VX, which I fucking love. I see BiG now has a 526, but I don't know if I want jeans quite that slubby, and the USA models are also a cincback, and have a better patch too.

How do the USAs compare to the 526s?

Washed these again yesterday, dunno how many washes that makes it - probably about 20. Had them for about 23 months.

Haven't worn my Sugarcanes or Iron Hearts in a while, need to get both of them hemmed. Might think about buying a new pair of Sammies soon though - don't know whether to stay with the VX fabric or if I should try one of the other ones.

After some thinking on the subject I think I'll buy a TAD Gear EDC pack instead; similar to the Vis but with MOLLE, a lifetime warranty, and half the price.

Thanks for the info though.

nigga just get that nike buzz lightyear backpack, that thing has a million pockets for all your sweaters and shit.

Hmm. Perhaps among all the 'niggas' you missed the fact that I want something subtle. You can't exactly turn up to a conference or meeting looking like Buzz Lightyear unless you work for Star Command.

I guess Tumi or LV will see my cash instead.

I know I've arrived to the show very late, but I'm looking for a decent backpack and I think the Ballistic 20 might qualify. I don't really know much about the brand (the shoes don't do it for me at all) but the bags seem to look well made and subtle, and who better to ask than this thread.

I'm very hard on bags - I bought a Stussy/Turntable Labs pack before christmas and it's already falling apart. On the other hand, my old Boblbee was bought in 2000 and despite a new shell is still holding up well, so I'm looking for something with that kind of build quality etc.

Is Visvim's shit that together? Will a Ballistic 20 have enough room for a macbook, a couple of large wallets for cables etc, plus room for a sweater? How about that plus whatever you'd need on a plane? Would the 25 be better?

Finally, is it still possible to buy one, or do I have to wait for A/W now?

If anyone is looking for a review, here's one I wrote for Ars Technica:

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/santa-rosa-macbook-review.ars

Very near deadstock - they've been worn maybe 3 or 4 times total. Still have the original box, retro card, lace locks, tissue paper etc.

US size 8.

$120 obo.

They sold out nationwide on the day of the launch, and eBay seem to only have fakes. Flight Club wants $200 for theirs, so this is a bit of a bargain.

Well, if his hand is messed up that's understandable, and I'm not slagging them off, and they are a cool shop.

Damn that sucks... you would think since he recognized your wife and could tell you guys were previous customers he would do it, even though maybe those pairs of jeans weren't from there.

Well, when I was there in July I only ended up buying an SDA tee and getting my jeans hemmed, so I'm not pretending I'm their best customer. I am surprised he recognized my better half from July though!

Hope your hand gets better soon, Gordon!

When I was in NYC over the summer I took the opportunity to get my Sammies hemmed at BiG, and a fine job they did too. My wife happened to be there for work this week, and she took my Iron Hearts and SC1947s with her to get them done, and apparently they won't hem anything not bought from them now! They even recognised her from when we were there in July, but no dice.

Anyway, just thought people might like to know, and possibly save themselves a trip.

I guess I need to find a reason to go to San Fran...

Over the past month I've been unable to get my haircut as I'm not in the states. In Washington D.C. there are great stylists, however in Londres I require reccomendations.

I won't allow women to cut my hair, women can not and should not cut men's hair.

Try Tommy Guns on Beak St.

Is 333 Old St still a going concern?

Yeah, the bootcut, low rise, zip fly was Fanker, it came in just about every fabric, and was the most popular style we stocked when I worked for them. 796 sounds like dirty dry denim, which was an orange overwash iirc.

2nd is in Osaka.

I wouldn't bother hemming them, but you could do with a small turn up.

Sugarcane 1947s - Had these for about a year, probably 3 months wear, 4 washes?

So I took some more pics

Samurai 526VX

Iron Heart 634S - 21 oz denim. Had these since April, probably 2 months wear, 2 or 3 washes. Very uniform denim, no slubs.

^intriguing... I'd love to see some pics of them laid out...

I'll see what I can do this weekend.

It's been way to long since i took any pics, so here you go.

Samurai 526VX, I've had them a little more than a year, probably 5 months total wear.

It's been way to long since i took any pics, so here you go.

Samurai 526VX, I've had them a little more than a year, probably 5 months total wear.